To borrow an analogy from my previous trade, book collecting is a ‘background batch’ activity – undertaken to no fixed timescale – a bookish weekend, say, or looping in and out of charity shops on the High Street. It is not until now a ’real time’ task where one has to be in ... Read more

In September 2007 Penguin issued a set of 36 books from across their range, designed specifically to be ‘collectable’. The books recalled the original 1935, horizontal band covers, colour-coded according to subject, and numbered on the spine (albeit supplemented by the full ISBN on the rear cove... Read more

This article is closely based on two articles that appeared in The Penguin Collector in December 2007 and December 2008. It is designed to accompany Duncan Smith’s www.penguincerisetravel.com. The site is images supported by text, this is text supported by images. Feel free to travel between them.... Read more